Sunday, September 25, 2011

Travel + Leisure Magazine celebrated its 40th anniversary with a Global Bazaar at the Park Avenue Armory last weekend. Tourist Boards, world-class chocolates, airlines and famous chefs - all participated in this global feast.

Me, as a food writer, journalist and blogger, I focused as always on food: I tasted street food from Singapore, the coconut cream and peanut butter grilled sandwich, the hand-sucked oysters from the Prince Edward island, fish fry from Barbados, the confit duck hors d'oeuvre from Canada and the cheese bread from Brazil. But I stayed active on the "booze" front: I couldn't resist the rum shuck, ice wine from Canada, and also a very unique cocktail from the island of Fiji. Because tasting amazing food while sipping on refreshing cocktails is a hard task, I made a stop at the relaxation center of the Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts, then experienced Boeing’s Dreamliner and had a final taste of my favorite speculoos cookies at Delta's Global Sky Lounge. Finally, and as a former Belgium resident, I greeted the Belgian Tourism Office with a glass of Belgian beer which has always been my favorite.

I often call myself a citizen of the world due to my travel adventures and years of living in numerous countries. Spending nearly three hours at T+L's Global Bazaar, I felt like being home.